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Welcome

For some people, a passport is a portal to the world. For others, it is a barrier to the travel freedom they
seek. Where do you lie on the spectrum of mobility?

The Henley Passport Index is the most rigorous and sophisticated measure of global access. It goes beyond a
simple ranking of passports to provide you with an in-depth picture of your travel freedom, including which
countries you can access with which type of visa, how your passport has changed over the last 13 years, how
your
passport compares to other passports, why your passport has the level of access it does, and which
additional
passports would improve your mobility.

The Henley Passport Index is the only passport index that is based on IATA data, enhanced by extensive
in-house
research, supported by expert commentary, and updated regularly throughout the year, making it the most
robust,
credible, and reliable index of its kind.

The Henley Passport Index is a ranking of all the passports of the world according to the number of countries their holders can travel to visa-free. The ranking is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s largest and most comprehensive database of travel information, and is enhanced by extensive in-house research.

With the Henley Passport Index, you can assess where you lie on the spectrum of global mobility and discover how to maximize your travel freedom through citizenship-by-investment. Along with the Henley & Partners ­– Kochenov Quality of Nationality Index, the Henley Passport Index is considered the most credible reference tool within the investment migration industry.

The Henley Passport Index is the original and most authoritative passport index, with historical data spanning 13 years. The index and its contents are based on data provided by the International Air Transport Authority (IATA) and supplemented, enhanced, and updated using extensive in-house research and open-source online data. The index includes 199 different passports and 219 different travel destinations. Updated in real-time throughout the year, as and when visa-policy changes come into effect, the Henley Passport Index is the most robust and reliable index of its kind.

Global ranking and visa lists

On a fixed date each year, Henley & Partners receives exclusive data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA), which forms the basis of the Henley Passport Index. In order to maintain the accuracy of the data provided by IATA in the face of constant updates to visa policy, and in order to create detailed visa lists for all 199 passports in our database, the Henley & Partners research team uses publicly available and reliable online sources to cross-check each passport against all 219 possible travel destinations. This research process is ongoing throughout the year. It is coupled with a rigorous monitoring system to pick up relevant visa-policy shifts.

Conditions and criteria

For each travel destination, if no visa is required for passport holders from a country or territory, then a score with value = 1 is created for that passport. A score with value = 1 is also applied if passport holders can obtain a visa on arrival, a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) when entering the destination. These visa-types require no pre-departure government approval, because of the specific visa-waiver programs in place.

Where a visa is required, or where a passport holder has to obtain a government-approved electronic visa (e-Visa) before departure, a score with value = 0 is assigned. A score with value = 0 is also assigned if passport holders need pre-departure government approval for a visa on arrival, a scenario we do not consider ‘visa-free’.

The total score for each passport is equal to the number of destinations for which no visa is required (value = 1), under the conditions defined above.

The index assumes the following: the passport is valid; the passport is ‘normal’ rather than diplomatic, emergency, or temporary; the passport holder is an adult citizen of the issuing country; the passport holder meets the basic requirements for entry (for example, holding a hotel reservation or having proof of sufficient funds); the passport holder is arriving at and departing from the same airport; the passport holder is seeking a short stay rather than a transit stay in the destination country or territory; the duration of the short stay is between three days and several months; the port of entry is a major city or capital; and entry to the destination country is for tourist or business purposes.

Regional groupings

For each passport, the visa lists were broken down into regions, for ease of reference. These regional groupings were created using a combination of official United Nations geographic categories and Henley & Partners business categories.

Disclaimer

The information provided in the index is not intended to be binding, and visa information must be verified with a travel agent or embassy representative before travel arrangements are made.

The Henley Passport Index is the only index of its kind that includes detailed insights from leading academics, researchers, and commentators on the major global and regional trends affecting migration, mobility, and border policy. Access these insights through the links below.

Germany secures the top spot in the 2018 Henley Passport Index, while the UK, China, Russia, and the UAE all improve their ranking year-on-year
For immediate release: London, 9 January 2018

Germany holds on to 1st place on the Henley Passport Index (henleypassportindex.com) for the fifth year running, with its citizens enjoying visa-free access to 177 countries in total, up from 176 countries in 2017. Singapore ranks 2nd globally on the 2018 edition of the index, with visa-free access to 176 countries, while eight countries — Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden, and the UK — share 3rd place, offering passport-holders access to 175 countries. Ranking jointly 4th on the index, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Spain all provide visa-free access to 174 countries.

The Henley Passport Index is widely acknowledged as the original and most authoritative passport index, with historical data spanning 13 years. The global ranking is the only one of its kind that is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s largest and most accurate database of travel information. The index is enhanced by extensive in-house research.

The US is among the countries holding 5th place on the 2018 edition of the index, improving its visa-free score from 172 in 2017 to 173 in 2018. The Russian Federation, meanwhile, climbed three places to 48th position. China has shown the most growth in North Asia over the past year, moving up 10 places compared to 2017 and now ranking 75th globally.

For the second year in a row, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan sit at the bottom of the Henley Passport Index, each able to access 30 or fewer countries visa-free.

Dr. Christian H. Kälin, Group Chairman of Henley & Partners, says the need for visa-free access is greater than ever. “Across the economic spectrum, individuals want to transcend the constraints imposed on them by their country of origin and access business, financial, career, and lifestyle opportunities on a global scale. The Henley Passport Index shows individuals where they lie on the spectrum of global mobility, revealing the strength that their passport has in relation to other passports,” he says.

The biggest movers in this year’s index were Georgia and Ukraine, which completed the visa‑liberalization process with the EU in 2017 and gained access to 30 and 32 new countries, respectively. Georgia was the highest individual mover, climbing 15 places, while Ukraine ascended 14 ranks. China, Sierra Leone, Guinea, the Dominican Republic, and Indonesia also performed strongly this year, each gaining seven or more places compared to 2017.
On the other end of the spectrum, 14 countries — Cyprus, Trinidad and Tobago, Sweden, Spain, Greece, Lithuania, Taiwan, Iran, Bangladesh, Nepal, Yemen, Antigua and Barbuda, North Korea and Syria — fared equally poorly in terms of downward movement on the index, all losing one place year-on-year. New Zealand descended the most but fell by only two places.

Of the 199 countries featured on the index, 143 improved their rank over the past year and 41 countries maintained their position. In terms of visa-free access, only seven countries saw their level of access reduced over the past year: Azerbaijan, New Zealand, Antigua and Barbuda, Algeria, Laos, North Korea, and Syria all lost visa-free access to a single country. By contrast, 18 countries maintained their level of access year-on-year, and the remainder of countries (174 in total) saw an improvement in their level of access compared to 2017.

Of all the continents, Africa has suffered the most dramatic decline in travel freedom with African countries accounting for 19 of the 27 biggest fallers over the past decade. Only two African countries (the Seychelles and Mauritius) have improved their global rank since 2008, the Seychelles by 17 places and Mauritius by 16 places. The Seychelles is the highest-performing African country in 2018, ranking 27th on the index and moving up two places from 2017; the Seychellois passport provides visa-free access to 141 countries. Mauritius, ranking 2nd in the region and 32nd globally, has visa-free access to 134 countries. South Africa is ranked 3rd overall in the region and 52nd globally, with visa-free access to 100 countries. With access to 32 countries, Somalia, ranked 100th, remained static compared with 2017.

Over the past 10 years, the UAE has climbed an impressive 28 places on the index. The UAE passport, ranked 33rd in the 2018 edition, offers visa-free travel to 133 countries — up from 121 countries in 2017. Meanwhile, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan occupy the bottom four places on the index. Syria dropped one place from 2017, now offering its citizens visa-free travel access to just 28 countries. Iran has managed to improve its rank over the past decade, escaping the bottom four rankings in the 2018 edition.

Countries in Southeast Asia have remained stable. Offering visa-free travel to 176 countries, and ranked 2nd globally, Singapore remains the best-performing country in the region, achieving its highest ranking on the index in 10 years. Malaysia ranks 2nd in the region, and 12th globally, with Malaysian nationals enjoying visa-free access to 166 countries. Indonesia moved up the ranking by seven places and is now ranked 72nd globally, having signed visa agreements with countries such as Qatar and St. Kitts and Nevis in 2017.

North Asian countries performed well on the 2018 Henley Passport Index, with both Japan and South Korea retaining their positions in the top 10. With visa-free access to 175 countries, the Japanese passport moved up two places to rank 3rd globally (a position shared by seven other passports). South Korea also moved up by two places to occupy 5th place, offering its citizens visa-free access to 173 countries. China has shown the most growth in the region over the past year, moving up 10 ranks to 75th place on the global ranking.

The Russian Federation is ranked 48th overall, but the country has fallen to 2nd place within the Commonwealth of Independent States, sharing this position with Moldova. Ukraine has climbed 14 places since 2017 and now occupies the top spot in the region. The Ukrainian passport is ranked 44th globally, providing visa-free access to 114 countries. Georgia is the highest climber both in the region and globally, moving up 15 places compared to 2017 and now occupying 53rd place overall. With a visa-free score of 50, and ranked 85th globally, Turkmenistan has the lowest level of travel freedom within the Commonwealth of Independent States.

In the Caribbean, several countries showed improvements on the 2017 results. St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Grenada added three additional countries to their 2017 visa-free lists. St. Kitts and Nevis also climbed two places in the 2018 edition of the index, now ranking 4th in the region and 28th globally. The Dominican Republic was the highest regional climber, ascending seven places on the 2018 Henley Passport Index to secure the 73rd position on the global ranking. All countries in the region excepting Antigua and Barbuda and Trinidad and Tobago improved or maintained their visa-free score year-on-year.

“There is no denying that a global mobility divide exists,” says Dr. Kälin. “We are also seeing a growing tendency towards a more isolationist, immigration-hostile policy among traditional migrant-receiving countries such as the US, and 2018 will bring further uncertainty, with the UK still in the grip of ongoing Brexit negotiations. Nonetheless, only a small minority of countries on the Henley Passport Index lost visa-free access in 2018. By and large, countries either improved or maintained their access compared to 2017. These findings reflect the fact that, while certain countries are tightening their borders, most are in fact becoming more open, as they seek to tap into the immense economic value that tourism, international commerce and migration can bring.”

Investment migration is the most direct route to improved mobility

More governments than ever before are embracing residence- and citizenship-by-investment programs as a means of stimulating economic development and growth, and an increased number of wealthy and talented individuals are looking to diversify their citizenship portfolios to give themselves and their families greater international opportunity, travel freedom, stability, and security.

Dr. Kälin points out that the countries that offer the most credible citizenship-by-investment programs in the world consistently perform strongly on the Henley Passport Index. “Malta, for example, offers the top-ranked investment migration program globally, and the country also scores very highly on the index, holding the world’s 9th most powerful passport and offering visa-free access to 169 countries,” he says. “Austria also makes it into the top 10, with access to a total of 174 countries. Cyprus is not far behind in 17th place, with 159 countries accessible visa-free.” Caribbean countries offering citizenship-by-investment programs have likewise performed well on this year’s index.

“Alternative citizenship represents the most direct route to global mobility, connectivity, and access. Individuals who have multiple passports benefit from each country’s best practices and are less vulnerable to its risks and shortcomings. The Henley Passport Index is relevant to anyone seeking to strengthen their level of access as well as to governments trying to understand their passport power in a global context,” concludes Dr. Kälin.

Notes to EditorsHeadlines 2018 versus 2017

Germany retains the top spot on the Henley Passport Index for the fifth year in a row, offering its citizens access to 177 countries.

Singapore ranks in 2nd place, with 176 countries on its visa-free list; rising two places year-on-year

Eight countries — Denmark, Finland, Italy, Sweden, France, Norway, the UK, and Japan share 3rd place, with France, Norway, and the UK all moving up one rank compared with 2017 and Japan moving up by two ranks.

4th place is shared by six countries — Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Spain — all of which offer visa-free access to 174 countries.

143 countries improved their rank on the 2018 index, while 174 improved their visa-free score.

Ukraine (44th) and Georgia (53rd) are the highest climbers on the index, moving up by 15 and 14 ranks, respectively, following their recent visa liberalization with the EU.

15 countries lost ground compared to 2017.

41 countries showed no movement at all.

Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan occupy the bottom four ranks on the 2018 index, each having visa-free access to 30 or fewer countries.

Headlines over the past decade

Africa suffered the most dramatic decline in travel freedom, with African countries accounting for 19 of the 27 biggest fallers since 2008. Only the Seychelles and Mauritius have increased their global rank over the past decade, by 17 and 16 places respectively.

Bangladesh suffered the largest individual decline of any country, dropping 23 ranks on the index since 2008.

The UAE has been the largest individual climber over the past decade, increasing its global rank by 28 places.

European countries have gained the most travel freedom over the past decade. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, and Ukraine have all improved their global rank by 10 or more positions in the past decade. These countries’ gains have been the result of either integration into the EU or visa-liberalization agreements with the EU.

In terms of global visa-free access, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Somalia have all remained in the bottom five of the index for the past decade.

In 2008, there were 24 countries in the top 10 positions of the index, with 17 of those located in Europe. A decade later, there are 28 countries in the top 10, with 21 from Europe.

As the world economy has become increasingly globalized, the need for greater visa-free access has grown
steadily. Across the economic spectrum, individuals want to transcend the constraints imposed on them by
their country of origin and access business, financial, career, and lifestyle opportunities on a global
scale.

Wealthy individuals in particular are more cosmopolitan and transnational today than ever before, with roots,
networks, assets, properties, and even citizenship spanning multiple countries. In many ways, global
connectivity has become an indispensable feature of wealth creation and wealth preservation, and its value
will only grow as regional volatility and instability increase.

The complexities and imbalances within contemporary international relations mean that citizens in many
countries encounter onerous visa restrictions and barriers to entry when it comes to traveling abroad. Even
individuals with strong passports need to obtain visas for certain countries or may be denied entry
altogether because of trade sanctions or cultural or political tensions. In general, the process of applying
for a visa is laborious and inconvenient.

Alternative citizenship represents the most direct route to global mobility, connectivity, and access.
Individuals who have multiple passports benefit from each country’s best practices and are less vulnerable
to its risks and shortcomings.

Henley & Partners is the global leader in residence and citizenship planning. Each year, hundreds of wealthy
individuals and their advisors rely on our expertise and experience in this area. Our highly
qualified professionals work together as one team in over 30 offices worldwide.

The concept of residence and citizenship planning was created by Henley & Partners in the 1990s. As
globalization has expanded, residence and citizenship have become areas of significant interest among the
increasing number of internationally mobile entrepreneurs and investors whom we proudly serve every day.

The firm also runs a leading government advisory practice that has raised more than USD 6 billion in foreign
direct investment. We have been involved in strategic consulting and in the design, set-up, and
operation of the world’s most successful residence and citizenship programs.

The following combination of 14 passports would grant you visa-free access to the whole world.

The following combination of 14 passports would grant you visa-free access to the whole world.

You can nowtravel to
Countries
Visa-free

Disclaimer: The minimum number of passports granting worldwide visa-free access
is
fixed at 14; however, multiple viable combinations of 14 passports exist. The specific
combination displayed on this page is only one of many possibilities. The information provided
here is based on the 2018 Henley Passport Index dataset, as of 9 January 2018